‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ Clip Introduces a Creepier, But Still Cute, Salem

Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina looks as different as can be from the cheery Sabrina the Teenage Witch comic book and ’90s sitcom that it inspired. But there’s one returning element that is probably familiar to fans.

A new clip from the upcoming Netflix series introduces Sabrina’s animal familiar, Salem, a cat which spoke with a deep and sarcastic voice in the ’90s sitcom. But while fans probably won’t anticipate that same sarcastic tone from the cat, they can anticipate him being just as cute as they remember.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Clip

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina takes a Satanic twist to the classic adventures of Sabrina Spellman (KiernanShipka), a half-human, half-witch teenager trying to reconcile her dual sides. But she doesn’t have to face this internal struggle — and an external one coming from the forces of evil threatening her town — on her own.

In the new clip released by Netflix, Sabrina encounters her familiar for the first time, which comes to her in the form of a cat. But that’s not before she is plagued with a vision of a terrifying demonic figure that appears in her room, calling out to her, “I heard you calling in the woods and I came…” The spectre, it seems, is Salem himself — which adds a properly creepy twist to the cute familiar. While he speaks before he turns into a cat, this doesn’t confirm whether Salem will appear as a talking cat for the rest of the run. Or if the only way he speaks will be in that growly whisper, which — let’s be honest — is kind of a downgrade from the deep, sardonic voice of Ian James Corlett from the Sabrina the Teenage Witch series. But then again, that hilariously sarcastic voice may clash with the darker Sabrina.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina also stars Jaz Sinclair, Michelle Gomez, Chance Perdomo, Lucy Davis, Miranda Otto, Richard Coyle, Ross Lynch, and Tati Gabrielle. It was created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and originally produced as a companion to the CW’s Riverdale.

Here’s the official synopsis for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:

Magic and mischief collide as half-human, half-witch Sabrina navigates between two worlds: mortal teen life and her family’s legacy, the Church of Night.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premieres on Netflix on October 26, 2018.